Shloka 53

Treasury Security, Protection of Informants, and the Kalakavṛkṣīya Exemplum (Śānti Parva 83)

Devanagari script

कच्चिज्जितेन्द्रियो राजा कच्चिदस्यान्तरा जिता:

Transliteration

kaccij jitendriyo rājā kaccid asyāntarā jitāḥ

Translation

Бхишма сказал: «Самообладает ли царь этой страны, победил ли он свои чувства? И те, кто находится внутри его державы—его ближние слуги и чиновники,—действительно ли обузданы дисциплиной и верностью?» Этими вопросами Бхишма испытывает нравственные основания царской власти: способность правителя одолевать желание и гнев и честность тех, кто ему служит; без этого не устоит ни любовь между царём и подданными, ни прочность управления.

Word by Word

• कच्चित्: whether?, I hope
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कच्चित्

• जितेन्द्रियः: self-controlled (having conquered the senses)
• जितेन्द्रियः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जितेन्द्रिय
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• राजा: king
• राजा: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: राजन्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• कच्चित्: whether?, I hope
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कच्चित्

• अस्य: of him/this (king/realm)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम्
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive, Singular

• अन्तराः: those within; insiders (attendants/servants)
• अन्तराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्तर
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

• जिताः: conquered; subdued
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जित
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural

Speaker

भीष्म उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bhīṣma
• rājā (the king)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

A kingdom’s welfare depends first on the ruler’s self-mastery (jitendriyatā) and then on the discipline and reliability of those closest to power; ethical governance begins with inner conquest before outward rule.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bhīṣma, speaking on principles of rājadharma, frames a set of diagnostic questions about a king’s character and the conduct of his inner circle, as a way to assess whether the realm is governed with stability, loyalty, and moral restraint.